One little boy, Oloo, was separating the family’s chickens. Some had died – a big loss to the family that could not salvage much else.

We also found 17-year-old Mary Amal fussing over her six younger siblings at one corner of the camp. They escaped last Monday from the area that was under the control of the rebel group before government soldiers attacked.

“We heard gunshots from a distance and then we run – everyone was running. My father refused to leave. He was killed,” she told us.

I asked where their mother was and she said that they left her hiding in the bush. Too tired to continue, she had told them she would catch up. They were still waiting for her by the time we were leaving.

These are all children who are living a life no child ever should.

The plan by UNHCR is to move the refugees away from the border and to more established settlements [Catherine Soi/Al Jazeera]

The camp they share with their loved ones has been quickly improvised to accommodate the large arriving numbers as it used to be a transit centre receiving less than a dozen refugees on its busiest days.

Suddenly, aid agencies led by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) have to deal with more than 5,000 people a day with very little resources.

However, South Sudan presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny has disputed the number of those displaced from Pajok.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said that the figures are exaggerated: Pajok has less than 1,000 residents, he said. The rest could be Ugandans of the same Acholi tribe trying to get free services and food.

What is not disputable though is the fact that there’s little water and food in the camp.

The refugees are getting some grain, flour and high-energy biscuits from the World Food Programme. They are also being helped by relatives who live abroad.

There’s not enough shelter so they are sleeping rough, in the open. Clearly, it’s no place for children to be.

About 200,000 people have arrived from South Sudan to north Uganda since January [Catherine Soi/Al Jazeera]

The new influx worsens the refugee crisis in Uganda, the world’s fastest-growing, according to the UN. There are now more than 800,000 South Sudanese refugees across 14 camps in northern Uganda.

About 200,000 people have arrived since January and UNHCR expects 400,000 by the end of the year if the situation in their country remains the same.

To provide for the refugees, the agency desperately needs funding. The response for an appeal of $500m for refugees in Uganda has not been great. Only 15 percent of the money needed has been received from donors.

The new refugees from Pajok, like many others making their way to Uganda, say that after fighting with armed rebels that control the areas, government troops often attack the villages believing that the civilians are rebel supporters.